Zoo’s effort
to inform falls flat
While I voted for the tax increase for the zoo in 2017, like many citizens of Tucson, this last December, I was shocked to find out about the zoo expansion plans that will destroy Barnum Hill and the south duck pond.
Clearly, the 2017 ballot and information provided to the public at that time did not disclose this destruction. Zoo proponents claims of outreach are obscure and do not rise to a good faith effort.
As a comparison on another issue affecting me, I was made fully aware of issues regarding the Sunshine Mile. I felt that I had easy access to information regarding this change.
The outreach by the city of Tucson was highly effective, and my Ward 6 council member bent over backwards working on compromises.
What a dichotomy! Something here is not right. I want my zoo vote back. Save the heart of Reid Park.
Robert Seaman
Midtown
The less votes,
the more the GOP wins
So, Republicans have won one popular vote for president in the last 25 years. Under Donald Trump, they have lost the White House, the House and the Senate.
Their response, in Arizona and elsewhere, is not to create a platform acceptable to the majority of voters. Their response is to create fewer voters.
Ann Miles
Green Valley
Freedom to choose must remain
Re: the March 19 letter “No government benefits for the unvaccinated.”
A recent letter writer proposed the preposterous notion that any beneficiary of government stimulus, pension or other funding be tied to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
Never mind that this is still America, and the decision on what to put in your body should be the most basic and unassailable right. Never mind that natural immunity through infection contributes to herd immunity as well.
Our fearfulness over this virus has made people forget that these vaccines are approved for emergency use only, and human trials are only now underway, with every current recipient essentially a human lab rat.
It takes years to correctly assess the safety and efficacy of any vaccine; to suggest everyone be required to get one in order to receive government money (funded by their own taxes) is simply fear-driven hysteria.
Richard Peddy
East side
GOP: Making it harder to vote since 2020
The Arizona Legislature is trying to make it harder for you to vote by mail.
If Senate Bill 1713 is enacted, you will have to include additional information with your signed affidavit including date of birth and identifying numbers from specified forms of documentation. Additional hurdles will apply for some voters.
Supporters claim this will improve election integrity by reducing fraud. But this is a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist and is nothing more than a blatant attempt to suppress the mail-in vote.
In addition, this proposed law would make it more difficult for county recorder’s offices to process mail-in ballots in a timely fashion.
This bill has already passed the Senate and has been sent to the House for approval.
Contact your state representatives and tell them you oppose any actions that will make it more difficult to submit a mail-in ballot, including SB 1713. The existing system has worked well for three decades.
Tom Ryan
East side
Remember these members in November
Arizona’s GOP legislators are failing to police themselves for allegations of ethics and campaign finance misdeeds, but they’re working hard to make it more difficult to cast your vote.
And, in the height of arrogance, they are also making it more difficult for citizen initiatives to reach the ballot because we the voters don’t really know what’s best for the electorate.
Ironically, their actions are making it very easy to remember who not to vote for every November.
Sheldon Clark
Vail
Cancel sexy performances, please
Where is the cancel culture movement headed when they get rid of Dumbo, Dr. Seuss and Peter Pan, but condone celebrity performances like the one on the Grammys objectifying scantily clad women on beds and dancing with stripper poles?
What ever happened to the image being portrayed of women’s rights, and their claim that the woman’s movement is striving to improve their lot in life?
Bill Johnson
Northwest side
